The Register's decision to publish two letters praising Kevin Cooney's recent Iowa View ['Fake news’ claim belies courage of journalists like Iowa WWII hero, July 23] only serves to bolster this paper's critics. Cooney, retired from TV journalism, laments President Donald Trump's attacks on his profession. He then wraps himself in the flag of patriotism by reference to a WWII reporter, and those that covered the Normandy invasion.

Sadly, the heirs to the war reporting of George Irvin and Ernie Pyle were Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and Morley Safer. Madonna and Mother Teresa have more in common than the reporting of WWII compared with the Indo-China war and its aftermath.

Media's muting of myriad Obama and Clinton scandals, its refusal to cover Islamic jihad's daily atrocities against Muslim and non-Muslim alike are just some of the reasons their approval rating is abysmal. The fact that media control the narrative but are mystified at their low approval is an irony lost on much of journalism. Long gone are Abe Rosenthal and Oriana Fallaci. It's time for some media introspection.